Your Complete Guide to Poker Chips & Creating the Perfect Stacks

[Tammy]

If you've never hosted a home game, tournament, or cash game, it can be overwhelming to figure out all the details, most importantly the ones that involve the chips! How many do I need? What type should I get? How do I distribute them to the players? What should each chip's denomination be? That's why we created a comprehensive guide to all things poker chips!

Ultimate Poker Chip Starting Guide

Take a look and let us know what you think? And for those of you experience game runners--do you have any recommendations for the home game newbie? What's your preferred structure? Type of chips? Let us know your thoughts!

 

[aj1300]

I have hosted home games (tournament style) off and on for a number of years. A few additions/thoughts to the great information included above:

- Buy the best quality chips you can afford. They last longer and make the experience much better for the players.
- Buy chips with denominations printed on them. This will help when dealing and will help any new/inexperienced players.
- I found that 1000 and 5000 chips were useful. This, of course, will depend on the starting chip stack and number of players in your game.
- Use two decks of cards. Designate someone (big blind, for example) to shuffle the second deck while the first deck is being used in a hand. This moves the game along.
- I prefer not to race off the lower denomination chips. I simply round up. It seems to make people happier and, in the long run, doesn't negatively impact the game.
- Set a timer to remind yourself when blinds should go up OR use an App on your phone, tablet, etc. There are some good Apps out there that will keep track of time, blinds, antes, breaks. PokerTimer is a good app but is only available for Apple, last I checked.
- Snacks. I usually tell people BYOB but I do provide light snacks and/or treat it like a potluck and everyone brings something to contribute.
- For the philanthropically-minded folks: a home game is a great opportunity to do something good for others. Here's how I've done it in the past: bring X number of canned goods (or a package of socks, underwear, etc.), get an additional 500 or 1000 in starting chips. Then, donate the items to a local shelter or food bank. I've also done a $5 add-on, then donated the add-on money.

Most of all, have fun! Home games can be a great source of fun and learning.

 

[Tammy]

I have hosted home games (tournament style) off and on for a number of years. A few additions/thoughts to the great information included above:

- Buy the best quality chips you can afford. They last longer and make the experience much better for the players.
- Buy chips with denominations printed on them. This will help when dealing and will help any new/inexperienced players.
- I found that 1000 and 5000 chips were useful. This, of course, will depend on the starting chip stack and number of players in your game.
- Use two decks of cards. Designate someone (big blind, for example) to shuffle the second deck while the first deck is being used in a hand. This moves the game along.
- I prefer not to race off the lower denomination chips. I simply round up. It seems to make people happier and, in the long run, doesn't negatively impact the game.
- Set a timer to remind yourself when blinds should go up OR use an app on your phone, tablet, etc. There are some good apps out there that will keep track of time, blinds, antes, breaks. PokerTimer is a good app but is only available for Apple, last I checked.
- Snacks. I usually tell people BYOB but I do provide light snacks and/or treat it like a potluck and everyone brings something to contribute.
- For the philanthropically-minded folks: a home game is a great opportunity to do something good for others. Here's how I've done it in the past: bring X number of canned goods (or a package of socks, underwear, etc.), get an additional 500 or 1000 in starting chips. Then, donate the items to a local shelter or food bank. I've also done a $5 add-on, then donated the add-on money.

Most of all, have fun! Home games can be a great source of fun and learning.

These are all great ideas! Sounds like you probably have a lot of fun at your games.

 

[sergik1992]

Thanks for the exhaustive and comprehensive guide. After reading that article I can safely create my own casino)
I see, that home games we have been playing are very poor in comparison with presented in the article. But nevertheless we always had fun!
For example last home game we played during the camping and our equipment was only deck of cards) The quantity of chips we did math in our heads... Lol

 

[Edison A]

I think that the distribution of chips in a tournament homegames should be 3,000 chips, you should also organize deepstacks with 10,000 chips for players to learn to play with the variances in the bets, the chips of minimum value must be 5 chips, I think that there should not be homegame tournaments with initial chips 1,500 0 2,000 chips, that subtracts action to the tournament

 

[makisaa]

Impressive collections of chips and imaginative stacks creations. How nice to have the chance and of course the big stack to make a creation of chips, when we make it to play in a big event! The way is open!

 

[BentleyBoy]

When you get down to it there is just soooooooo much to consider when setting up a home game. Great food for thought in this article and well worth keeping a copy for future reference.

Thanks CC

 

[Luvart]

When I started playing poker, some years ago, I was playing a lot of home cash games, and I admit that the problem with the lack of chips was serious.....Due to the lack of chips we were always playing with 25bb starting stacks......and as you can understand, the game play was hilarious. But good quality chips aren't cheap to be honest.

 

[Andrew Popov]

If the chips are simply sold in the store, and do not have any special labeling - maybe someone came across something that after the game of chips is somewhat more than it was?
Of course, playing at home games, we assume that we know who is sitting at the table, but still such jokes are possible?

 

[neptun1914]

Very good guide. It would be good if i had seen it before buying cheap case for 35$ with 300 plastic chips. In fact they also do their job for the home games and for my surprise they weigh 11 grams so it is not so bad but i had to buy new cards because the included were not good. For the blinds calculation and clock i use app on my android phone called "blinds are up". It is free and does good job. Case with 300 chips is usually ok for 5 to 6 players max if 1500$ is ok as initial stack for you while for more you need 500 or 1000 chips.

 

[acidburnfx]

Home-games are an opportunity to have fun and create or strengthen ties between friends. Money is secondary. It's important to highlight that pizza is always one of the best options for home games. However, if you also buy the usual salty and potato chip, in a short time the cards and chips will be full of fat.

 

[dimon4ik89]

I started my poker career with home games.

I started my poker career with home games. My friends and I bought chips on the Internet with an iron rod weighing 11.5 grams. We ourselves made a poker table, helped us by a friend who makes furniture. I advise everyone who has not played home games before, be sure to try this kind of poker. Live poker with friends and online poker, these are completely different types of poker and quite an equal pleasure from the game.

 

[Bricxjo]

Hello Tammy and CC,

I have a pretty good poker set with white, red, blue and green chips, They have a nice weight and feel; but like it was mentioned earlier, I would prefer that the denomination was printed on the chips. For a family game, I bought some very nice chocolate poker chips that we used for the highest value chips. We did it for Mother's day, Dawn and I let my mother win and she was so happy.

Good luck to you all,
Brian

 

[hugh blair]

Great thread Juicy when I play homegames I tell everybody to arrive at 6.30pm if plan on starting game at 7pm as somebody is always late,
I try to keep it simple 10,000 chips for 10 euro minimum buy in up to 100,000 chips for euro 100 buy in but people have bought in more if wanted later in night.
Rebuys available sit out available if need a break like a cash game structure blinds normally start at 100 and 200 but can go up later in night if agreement by players denominations start at 100 white 500 blue 1000 red 5000 green 10000 black,
Usually every hour blinds 200 and 400 then 400 and 800 500 and 1000 for example varies at times.

I do not use antes as it is time consuming always reminding players to post!
The most important things I found was to have a couple of table cloth felts as they can get destroyed my accident with people eating food or drinking beer,
And also have a dozen or more decks of cards as I often have to throw out cards due to getting damaged much easier than the table cloth.
I bought 3 large poker sets with good quality heavy chips over the years so you have plenty of chips for a big group of players and are not always changing denominations regularly.

Have the kitty with cash in a free spot on poker table so players see what they are playing for motivates them but separate the chips and get the person on your left to count each others stack before starting to make sure right chips received.
Normally keep rebuy chips in small padlocked box so drunk messing players can not just grab them and jump into game.
Then the main thing is to have fun and enjoy the night as it can get competitive.

 

[Dejange]

Great article and awesome Guide foe anyone interested to host home games of poker :top:

For now, we have only a standard 35 USD set of chips - which is more than enough for playing with my two boys. Unfortunately, none of my close friends are practicing poker, in the past we played a lot of Bridge - the sports version - where the chips are not involved. It was very funny period - playing the whole nights until dawn, especially during my University period - great memories

 

[whiskers77]

Interesting article again, thanks CC. As it seems, there is also made a kind of cult around these poker chips. I did not know, that there such expensive and special poker chip sets are existing. I know this only from other game, like chess or many board games, that there are special editions or editions made of some pricey materials. But I also agree absolutely with you, that ivory is really not a good taste. I hope these chips origin from a time, when the people wasn't much aware about environmental and wildlife protection.

I have to admit, that I own a really crappy chip set. It is even made of wood. And it costed only 5 Euros. Well, I bought it long, long time ago, when I started playing poker. And for that, what I am playing privately, just with familiy and sometimes with friends, its is absolutely enough. Well, I also know the experience playing with better chips and it is really a difference in haptics.

 

[PHX]

Pretty nice article about chips. Chips are vital to any game.

Most of the cheap chips set at stores do not have the domination on them just different colors which can sometimes be confusing as hell. When my friends first started our home game we use to put up a little poster with the color and denomination to make things easier. We got our first set from a toy store if I remember correctly.

We did eventually get a nice set of chips for our home game from a closing Members Club. They had the denominations on them but they had Members Club name on the sticker. They are somewhere in a box at someone's house collecting dust as my friends no longer have time to play.

 

[Vorem]

I did not even think that chips and their quality could be so important for playing with poker friends. We have no chips at all, we use box of matches instead of them)

 

[chronical]

As always CC is being usefull =)
Had a few home games, but nothing special. And having chips were a problem, I guess having a decent poker tools is mandatory. Who 'da thouhgt? LUL
I would think that the best line of action is to buy a big poker set and you are good. Drinks/food/music will anyway vary from person to person so telling you about your people is kinda wierd.
As for chips I would think if you and your guys are not proes having alot of small bets would be good, as ther will be alot of limping bin betting so having chips that are ~25% of the starting stack would be bad

 

[PuMa8818]

Just remembered my story)
When we have a law on the transfer of casinos into individual gaming zones, many casinos have closed and the former owners of a large number of high-end cards and chips moved to the closet. By a lucky chance one of these people turned out to be my good acquaintance and for free I had about 5000 chips with denominations from 1 to 50 000 and about 500 packs of new cards) for home games this was more than enough and I sold a part of the arsenal and gave away to friends) Interest in poker woke up even with those of my friends who had not even heard of this game. I taught my girl to shuffle cards and she was the croupier until she mastered the basics of poker and joined the game. It was the high quality of chips and cards that attracted friends, they were nice to hold in hands, the cards easily slipped over the bucks, stacks of chips were heavy and their presence was felt during the game. In general, the good quality of the game arsenal is more interest and emotion.

 

[ZenGreen]

Get some good clean chips but on another side here. Chip stacking is a big probelm of mine live. Im a mess, Big stacks big mess, I dont know how many I really have, I can stack em very high,scared Im gonna knock em down. It just embarrassing as I need to practice sometime and be like the cool kids.

 

[vovqa93]

Never played live, even home games, but i want to, in future.
The better choise about chip stack for me is obviously the big amount of chips, and with lower value as possible! It's the most comfortable choise, especially for home games in my opinion. Easier and softer way to learn the flow of game to newbies, and anyway it looks more comfortable to manage bet-sizings in the action.
For tournament plays and live cash games it's a bit hard for me to say something, need some more learning spent into it.

 

[Tammy]

Thanks for the exhaustive and comprehensive guide. After reading that article I can safely create my own casino)
I see, that home games we have been playing are very poor in comparison with presented in the article. But nevertheless we always had fun!
For example last home game we played during the camping and our equipment was only deck of cards) The quantity of chips we did math in our heads... Lol

I've used candies and pretzel sticks and things like that for poker chips. You're right, as long as you're having fun, who cares?

If the chips are simply sold in the store, and do not have any special labeling - maybe someone came across something that after the game of chips is somewhat more than it was?
Of course, playing at home games, we assume that we know who is sitting at the table, but still such jokes are possible?

You have to think about all these things and have a plan of action to prevent it.

Great thread Juicy when I play homegames I tell everybody to arrive at 6.30pm if plan on starting game at 7pm as somebody is always late,
I try to keep it simple 10,000 chips for 10 euro minimum buy in up to 100,000 chips for euro 100 buy in but people have bought in more if wanted later in night.
Rebuys available sit out available if need a break like a cash game structure blinds normally start at 100 and 200 but can go up later in night if agreement by players denominations start at 100 white 500 blue 1000 red 5000 green 10000 black,
Usually every hour blinds 200 and 400 then 400 and 800 500 and 1000 for example varies at times.

I do not use antes as it is time consuming always reminding players to post!
The most important things I found was to have a couple of table cloth felts as they can get destroyed my accident with people eating food or drinking beer,
And also have a dozen or more decks of cards as I often have to throw out cards due to getting damaged much easier than the table cloth.
I bought 3 large poker sets with good quality heavy chips over the years so you have plenty of chips for a big group of players and are not always changing denominations regularly.

Have the kitty with cash in a free spot on poker table so players see what they are playing for motivates them but separate the chips and get the person on your left to count each others stack before starting to make sure right chips received.
Normally keep rebuy chips in small padlocked box so drunk messing players can not just grab them and jump into game.
Then the main thing is to have fun and enjoy the night as it can get competitive.

Great tips! I especially like the part where you have the person to the left count the player's chips on their right.

Just remembered my story)
When we have a law on the transfer of casinos into individual gaming zones, many casinos have closed and the former owners of a large number of high-end cards and chips moved to the closet. By a lucky chance one of these people turned out to be my good acquaintance and for free I had about 5000 chips with denominations from 1 to 50 000 and about 500 packs of new cards) for home games this was more than enough and I sold a part of the arsenal and gave away to friends) Interest in poker woke up even with those of my friends who had not even heard of this game. I taught my girl to shuffle cards and she was the croupier until she mastered the basics of poker and joined the game. It was the high quality of chips and cards that attracted friends, they were nice to hold in hands, the cards easily slipped over the bucks, stacks of chips were heavy and their presence was felt during the game. In general, the good quality of the game arsenal is more interest and emotion.

That's awesome!!

 

[Polytarp]

Good and useful thread.
The quality and cleanliness of the chips and table is important. I've played in home games where poker chips can get lost in a bag of chips or if you rubbed your eyes after handling chips that had some hot sauce remnant on them your vision becomes more obscured beyond the alcohol you've ingested.

The chips I have are of casino quality. Playing with them to develop some dexterity helps.
I remember coming across a small book on how to play with casino chips but I forget the name. Could someone recommend any links or books on this?

A final point, people use their chips to signal and/or send messages (bad people). Good people can infer how experienced a player is and possibly correlate how someone plays with their chips and the hand they are playing.

 

[chicopaw]

very interesting and informative section about chips and history, If i were to buy some, i would want to spend more and buy a set that would cover all ranges even thou i might not use them,Home games i would think 1500-2K would be suffieiant to play with